Gas tank filling issues

Okay so my tank has got hit a few times and the bottom has been reshaped and now it's a huge pain in the ass to fill.

The fuel nozzle will not run on any of the present levels. I have to barely squeeze the lever and it takes 10mins or so to fill the tank, anything faster the the nozzle kicks off. How do those auto nozzle shut off anyways?

I've re-ran the lines thinking they maybe kinked but that doesn't seem to have helped.

Any suggestions? New vent, larger vent? This is getting ridiculous.

it's probably easier to change the tank and get one without the dents--
maybe pick up a gas tank skid plate at the same time.


I'd go insane if I had to fill it for 10 minutes every time.

Get a new gas tank, raise tank, and skid.

Why would the dent cause it to fill slow. A new tank would pick a problem, but I'm not usre it would fix the problem I'm having now. Anyone know if there are any kind of flaps in the stock filler neck/vent?

Beside it doesn't hit anymore. But sometime when I get some other projects finished up I'll be doing a new tank/skid.

Shove a hose down the neck and see where ya get hung up by marking it on the hose. If it's 1 ft then it's not the tank, it's in the neck. If your able to get the hose to the fuel then it's not in the neck.

did you try pulling the hose out a little? mine won't fill up unless i pull it out some, it just shuts off on me.

try turning the nozzle a bit in the fuel fillspout. Mine will only run for about 5sec before automatically turning off if I hold it in the regular 6 o'clock position, but if I hold it at about 5 o'clock it'll run till the tank is full.

looking at the pic I took of inside my old tank may show you why it might be taking a bit to fill....Look at the far left of the pic.. The large tube is your fill tube. Where you say your tank got hit a few times you have probably pushed the tank bottom right up to it. There is only about an inch or so of space between the bottom of the tank and the bottom of that tube. Just my thoughts and as mentioned above a gas tank skid(even the stock metal one) is worth having

Weasel said:

How do those auto nozzle shut off anyways?

Click to expand...

There is a venturi that runs along side the gas flowing in the nozzle. When the venturi hits liquid the pump senses that the vent is now submerged and shuts off the pump.

You either have a vent issue, or your filler neck is jacked up and filling with fuel.

Either way, you're probably dropping the tank to find out.

IbjeepIn said:

Shove a hose down the neck and see where ya get hung up by marking it on the hose. If it's 1 ft then it's not the tank, it's in the neck. If your able to get the hose to the fuel then it's not in the neck.

Click to expand...

good idea

robhurlburt said:

did you try pulling the hose out a little? mine won't fill up unless i pull it out some, it just shuts off on me.

Click to expand...

yep have tried that, no luck

kastein said:

try turning the nozzle a bit in the fuel fillspout. Mine will only run for about 5sec before automatically turning off if I hold it in the regular 6 o'clock position, but if I hold it at about 5 o'clock it'll run till the tank is full.

Click to expand...

I've tried 360 degrees no luck

magimerlin said:

looking at the pic I took of inside my old tank may show you why it might be taking a bit to fill....Look at the far left of the pic.. The large tube is your fill tube. Where you say your tank got hit a few times you have probably pushed the tank bottom right up to it. There is only about an inch or so of space between the bottom of the tank and the bottom of that tube. Just my thoughts and as mentioned above a gas tank skid(even the stock metal one) is worth having

Click to expand...

Excellent picture thanks, I'm thinking I see what the issue is.

87manche said:

There is a venturi that runs along side the gas flowing in the nozzle. When the venturi hits liquid the pump senses that the vent is now submerged and shuts off the pump.

You either have a vent issue, or your filler neck is jacked up and filling with fuel.

Either way, you're probably dropping the tank to find out.

Click to expand...

Thats how I was thinking it worked. And yep looks like I'm stuck taking the tank out. Thanks for the info have to think about this for a bit.

I'd like to either make or get a smaller/thinner tank so this may push the up a bit on the project list.

I know this is an old thread, but for people that maybe searching for this problem and a fix I wanted to add to it and maybe help someone with the same problem. This happened to me too.

What it is, is that the bottom of the tank is now pushed up and causing the fuel to back up in the fill neck and the vent tube is submerged which is on the side of the fill neck and shuts off the pump handle. This shuts off the pump handle by blocking the little venturi hole in the gas nozzle causing a high vacuum condition and shutting the handle off.

What I did was to get an eye bolt, 10 nuts (Stainless so they won't rust) that fit the eye bolt and some JB Weld. I removed the plastic bottom cover one side at a time putting the strap back on each side after pulling the plastic cover out. I then cleaned the bottom of the gas tank really well. I put a nut on the eye bolt flush with the bottom of the eye bolt. Then I mixed the JB Weld putty and put it around the eye bolt and nut and mashed it to the bottom of the gas tank along the dented area, about the size of quarter or fifty cent piece. Then I unscrewed the eye bolt and repeated along the dent.

The next day I went and screwed the eye bolt into the JB Welded nuts on the bottom of the tank working from the deeper part of the dent with a slide hammer (I bought at HB for $20) working my way out down the dent.
This removed the congestion from the filler neck vent tube and fill neck and I can fill it like normal. You will have the JB Weld bumps on the bottom, but you need to put the plastic cover back on anyway for safety in case of a rear end collision so it will hide the lumps anyway.

You can get a gas tank used from the Jyard or a new one for $130+. I just thought I would give this a shot and save some money. All it took was a little time and about $35. My gas tank looked brand new when I took off the cover so I decided to save it and just fix the dent.

Weasel said:

good idea



yep have tried that, no luck



I've tried 360 degrees no luck



Excellent picture thanks, I'm thinking I see what the issue is.



Thats how I was thinking it worked. And yep looks like I'm stuck taking the tank out. Thanks for the info have to think about this for a bit.

I'd like to either make or get a smaller/thinner tank so this may push the up a bit on the project list.

Click to expand...

Back in the old days, I had a tank that had a dent. I pinched off the lines and applied a small amount of compressed air. Presto the dent popped out. I have a dented tank now and I plan to fill it all the way up, then use by body work pin welder to attach a few pins to the dent and then pull out the sheetmetal. I'll then simply snip off the pins, use a 20 ton press to work out the dents in my tank skid, and call it done.

I was lucky enough to nail the slosh well and bend it also. That dent did not come out.

magimerlin said:

looking at the pic I took of inside my old tank may show you why it might be taking a bit to fill....Look at the far left of the pic.. The large tube is your fill tube. Where you say your tank got hit a few times you have probably pushed the tank bottom right up to it. There is only about an inch or so of space between the bottom of the tank and the bottom of that tube. Just my thoughts and as mentioned above a gas tank skid(even the stock metal one) is worth having

Click to expand...

mine has a huge dent in that area and is a pain to fill